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Region's largest homebuilder lands a whopper: 32 acres in Woodinville
DerekJohnson
Administrator, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 59,983
DerekJohnson
Administrator, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 59,983
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All the rage with the cost of development these days
I may be headed back to that area myself and looking for a little space. There are a lot of older places on nice lots. You can always fix up the house; you can't expand your lot (usually).
I’ve had to explain this concept to my significant other repeatedly. I’m not entirely against a subdivision but the newest ones are an exercise in how close and cheaply you can build houses and get away with it. She is starting to grasp that it may be better to get something non cookie cutter with a bit of space, and put some sweat equity into it.
We are in the market for an upgrade. Our current house is in the range of ones that shot up 20% in a quarter and are going like hot cakes the day they’re listed; the ones that are a step or two higher haven’t increased as much yet so I’m trying to strike while it makes sense.
It seems there are only three options:
1. Nice, newer houses with the accoutrements one expects: open floor plans, big kitchen, impressive master, walk-ins, bathrooms that don’t remind me of airplanes, etc.
Unless you hit the seven figure price point those will be built on a 7,000 SF lot and you can have a conversation with half of the neighborhood from your postage sized backyard.
2. A custom built from 1970-2000 something before the McMansion subdivision made that rare. It will be on primo land, instead of flat farm land that has been turned into a generic grid or something next to a busy four lane road.
The downside is that it will often be some crazy shit, most likely dated beyond hope and the architect who designed and drafted it with his own three hands was institutionalized for hearing voices.
Enjoy this three bedroom, eight bathroom, with staircases inspired by MC Escher! Features wine cellar that can be converted to a sex dungeon (or vice versa), three bars, dedicated RV parking for a 98 foot RV or a dirigible, dining room built in a Japanese style, the adjoining living room with a Southwestern flair and a fireplace made out of the bones of a now extinct wild horse! We suggest you learn to use the fireplace because this house uses more electricity than a small African nation. No windows on the north side of the house but there are impossible to replace skylights throughout. New owner assumes all responsibility, including possible haunting by malevolent spirits.
3. The “Grandma’s been put in the cheapest old folks home we could find and we’re splitting this jackpot seven ways” special.
House will look even worse because it’s filled with 1970s furniture, curtains, peeling linoleum, flowery wallpapers, the worst and shaggiest carpet you can imagine, toilets and baths will be pink. When this house was built it wasn’t allowed to have more than one small window per room, they will all be too high or too low to create the perfect atmosphere of mid century gloom. The kitchen is wide enough for one petite person to be in at a time.
I hope you really like oak or something that looks like oak! Because everything in this house looks like fucking oak. The window trim and sills, every door, every cabinet, maybe a wall or two. Everything is oak! Except for the floors, which are carcinogenic plastics.
The yard is the perfect size and will look great if it’s not neglected for another 30 years. When your neighbors are doing some domestic violence shit or yelling at their new puppy you won’t know because your $850k house isn’t three feet from theirs!
The problem is the shitty homes are overpriced limiting how much to light on fire remodeling it and still getting a return. If that matters which it usually does
You could take any house to the studs that is on a nice lot and build it back better (SWIDT). If you hire a good GC you can get it done fast. But its 100 grand easy. Or you could call @1to392831weretaken and spread it out over years of pain and suffering
As a contractor I always say there is nothing we can't do with your money
I like to say that
Especially the oak. My in-laws love fucking oak. Old oak is ok, and it's fine on floors. But new, big grain "I'm OAK!!!! Look at me!!!" is as bad and dated as shag carpet and chrome.
Tomorrow, the carpet in my bedroom is being installed. I tore that carpet out in August. Nearly ever day pain and suffering since is no exaggeration.
Which is where a word of caution for @RatherBeBrewing is necessary here: You described your options correctly, but not the total cost. In the past, renovating options two or three were the right move. Now? They're not an option. Those renovations will cost so much that you'll feel stupid for not just donating a black market kidney or two and upping your budget to over a million so you can have a better built custom home and also some space.
Even that isn't a guarantee that your house wasn't thrown together poorly. I'd want to contact the builder directly and ask some very specific questions: How is the house ventilated? What was used for water resistive barrier? How were the windows taped and flashed? OSB or CDX? Hot dipped nails or brights? Stainless nails for siding and treated sills? Proper wrapped foundation drain? Properly vented plumbing? Good luck finding such a place.
Perhaps the best bet would be to wait for the cost of lumber to reduce back to at least half of what it currently is (although I have my doubts this will happen) and just build something that won't fall apart.
A reporter for the Guardian or Telegraph or some other Brit newspaper told me a joke about a drunk and nouveau riche Ukrainian getting into a cab in London and insisting he be driven to his country home outside of Kiev. The taxi driver doesn’t understand and explains he isn’t allowed to leave London. The oligarch keeps repeating himself and takes out a giant wad of cash. The cabbie starts speaking perfect Russian asking him which bridge would be the best to take this time of day.
You’re right, in that it’s usually a waste to try to improve most shitty homes. There are houses I’ve seen where >$5k of materials and me not being lazy on weekends could make something worth $50k more in just ~three months. My goal is more of a long term thing, get something we’d be in for for five years and make it what we want as we go along and then upgrade again. But I mostly agree, money pit potential is sky high.
Water is wet, again.
Just ask @MikeSeaver
My original point was the lack of stock makes the buy price higher than optimal even for a shitty home
Anyway, they have a source in the city of Miami government that allows them to get to the front of the line with permits, etc. and they buy distressed shit. So, as Race said, it's all on the purchase price. Then they do some things (sometimes as easy as just cleaning it up outside, replacing a few things inside, and flippiddy flip flop he and his cousin will walk away with $40 to say $80 k.
To drive the point home even further, they bought this 1930s art deco number in one of the old classic Miami neighborhoods (Miami had a huge art deco era - it works down there) with a detached garage and all this shit. An eccentric guy lived there and had stacks of newspapers all over ... that kind of shit.
This is classic beauty of an old house and they wanted to "do it justice", which was their first mistake. So they get this thing, they pay a fair amount for it and they really do it up and, guess what? They had to hold it for several months longer than typical and eventually whatever they sold it for didn't give them the margin that anybody here would have considered worth the while, even ignoring their time and labor. Just straight hold time and related market risk alone didn't justify the peanuts they made.
They've done very well with mid-market flips where they are getting the thing in the first instance with built-in margin, and then they make it more sellable and boom ... like I said, $40 to $80 k, sometimes a little more, for a couple of months work if that and less downside risk.
You need to be able to hold and even have rentals if you screw up the math
Like anything its a lot harder than it looks
I'd like to work with your dad though. Dream retirement job